Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to Chabad Lubavitch which is the world's largest network of Jewish educational and social service institutions. The Chabad movement was founded in the 18th century in the Russian city of Lubavitch. The word Chabad is an acronym for the Hebrew words for wisdom, understanding and knowledge, representing a philosophy of life that integrates the spirit of humanity with the physical reality of the world.

At the present time, more than 100,000 children are being educated in Chabad schools. Chabad houses serve as a home away from home for college and university students. They offer food for the body, nourishment for the soul, and non-judgmental advisers always willing to listen.

Mr. Speaker, a few weeks ago, I acknowledged 20 recipients of the Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal from my riding of Okanagan—Shuswap who contribute to the community and society as a whole.

Today I was pleased to hear that the Kindale Development Centre in Armstrong which provides services to about 90 mentally challenged clients received a donation from Sun Country Cable, a donation that will enable the centre to continue its work in our community. Sun Country Cable donated the building. This building is next to Kindale's existing facility and both properties will eventually lead to construction of a new centre. In the meantime, the building will be used for training and respite suites.

I am proud to be part of a community that looks out for those less fortunate. Charity does begin at home.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to share some of my concerns about the recent decision by Société Radio-Canada to cancel its late evening sports news.

I am worried, because last year this crown corporation had also decided to stop broadcasting the Saturday night hockey games, La Soirée du hockey . Happily, that decision was reversed.

Société Radio-Canada has a goal and a duty to reflect Canadian society. The late evening sports news is the only cross-Canada sportscast in French. Its impact is very great, not only in terms of professional sport, but also for everyone involved in amateur sports, especially the athletes.

Therefore, in the name of all my hon. colleagues in the Quebec Liberal caucus, I ask Radio-Canada to review the file, reconsider its decision, and maintain the service.

Mr. Speaker, history is alive and well in the city of Kingston, Ontario. On June 15, Kingstonians will gather together with family and friends in their city to celebrate First Capital Day.

On that day in Kingston in 1841, Governor General Lord Sydenham opened the first Parliament of the United Provinces of Canada. Eventually, Kingston's insufficient number of office buildings forced Parliament to move to Montreal, where it opened on November 28, 1844.

Over 160 years later, both the provincial and the federal governments have officially recognized Kingston as the First Capital of Canada. Thanks to the hard work of Mr. Ian Milne and Dr. Margaret Angus, the founders of First Capital Day, the occasion of Kingston's choice as Canada's first capital has been marked with much celebration for the past five years.

On behalf of myself and the member for Kingston and the Islands, I would like to congratulate Kingston for this celebration, and invite all Canadians who take pride in our heritage to come and join in the festivities at Canada's historic first capital on June 15.

Mr. Speaker, the former Parti Quebecois government under Bernard Landry had established a network of five-dollar-a-day daycare centres by making two changes in the taxes that affect Quebec families.

Families with children have borne a large share of the tax burden in the past, and they still do so.

In an article in La Presse , on June 3, 2003, Claude Picher wrote:

The authors of the study concluded that 72% of Quebec families are financially worse off. Essentially, these are the households with incomes over $25,000; below that amount, you win, above it, you lose, and depending on various factors, you may lose between $389 and $608 per year.

The combined impact of the two measures, five-dollar-a-day daycare and Quebec's budget tightening, varies considerably depending on the size of the family, its income, the age of the children and many other factors.

Mr. Speaker, the Chabad movement was born in Russia more than 200 years ago. Chabad worked to keep Judaism alive under oppression during the czarist and communist regimes. When the Soviet Union crumbled, Chabad emerged from underground. Its work continues throughout the former Soviet Union where it has established some 200 institutions for Jewish outreach and humanitarian aid.

There are 72 Chabad centres in Canada. There are 37 centres in Quebec, 21 in Ontario, eight in British Columbia, two in Alberta and Manitoba and one in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. These centres serve the needs of Jews no matter what their level of knowledge or observance.

Only a few weeks ago for the first time ever, Chabad organized a reception here at the House of Commons commemorating the Jewish festival of Purim.

The vision and leadership for this vast network of activities and services was and is the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneersohn of blessed memory.

Mr. Speaker, the decline of the stock market over the past several years has caused investors to become more wary of the advice they receive from their investment advisors.

Many are surprised to discover that investment advisors are paid sales commissions by fund companies to sell their products to their clients and later keep them from selling those investments. These commissions and higher ones paid to sell private placements represent a conflict of interest that investors need to be aware of.

It is time for national standards to protect investors from commission-driven advice by requiring brokers working for federally regulated financial institutions to report to their clients the commissions they receive for recommending and selling investment products. Transparency and full disclosure are essential to restore the investor confidence that our economy urgently needs.

Mr. Speaker, a few weeks from now, thousands of Quebeckers will be moving to a new home. But this year as last year, many families in Montreal, Quebec City, Gatineau and elsewhere will find themselves without housing, on the street.

Between 1994 and 2002, the federal government deprived inadequately housed Quebeckers of approximately 40,000 units of social housing.

This government must be reminded that nearly 1 million Quebeckers are inadequately housed, either spending too high a portion of their income on housing or living in substandard and often unsanitary housing. Statistics Canada reports that in 2001, nearly 218,500 households in Quebec were spending some 50% of their income on rent.

At present, hundreds of families and individuals are already homeless, the vast majority being too poor to afford housing.

In the face of the worsening crisis, the Bloc Quebecois asks that the federal government urgently make funding available for social housing.

Mr. Speaker, I was proud to sit with the Minister of the Environment as he introduced an act respecting the protection of the Antarctic environment.

Colleagues and I have been pressing for Canada to become more involved in Antarctica, which contains most of the world's freshwater. It is a pristine continent set aside for research and other non-military activities under a treaty involving almost 30 nations.

Canadians are active in Antarctica as researchers, businesses and tourists. Our Twin Otters, snowmobiles, mukluks, parkas and remote sensing systems are used all over the continent.

As a rich, cold weather country, we have a great deal to contribute to the proper management of Antarctica and we have a lot to gain from being there.

I congratulate the minister for this important step toward Canada taking its full responsibility for this special continent. Our thanks to the Minister of DFAIT and to the staff at Environment Canada and DFAIT who helped with this project. Our particular thanks to Students on Ice for their petitions.

Mr. Speaker, we in British Columbia are very proud of Barry Marsden. Barry is the chairman and CEO of Cascade Aerospace.

Barry recently received an award for outstanding achievement in aviation maintenance, repair and overhaul. He is acknowledged for his vision for building a state of the art purpose built aircraft maintenance, repair, overhaul and modification facility which opened in my riding in Abbotsford, British Columbia.

Our city has now caught the eye of Southwest Airlines and Continental Airlines. This has enhanced the economics of our area considerably.

Barry's success as one of the founders of Conair, of which he is president and CEO, could have stopped at that point, but real leaders strive for excellence all the time.

We in Canada can be very proud of Barry Marsden, for he is the kind of person true Canadian entrepreneurs are made of: energy, innovation, dedication and foresight.

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to announce that as I speak, Dr. Mike Lazaridis is being installed as the eighth chancellor of the University of Waterloo.

Dr. Lazaridis is known as a visionary, innovator and engineer of extraordinary talent. His creations, which include the BlackBerry and other world firsts, have won dozens of industry awards for excellence.

Dr. Lazaridis is a passionate advocate for education and scientific research. He has supported his community and country with generous gifts to educational institutions. He gave $100 million to establish the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, a world centre for excellence based in Waterloo and affiliated with more than 30 Canadian universities.

Mike to came this country as a six year old boy and is now a fiercely proud Canadian.

On behalf of the House, I want to congratulate Dr. Mike Lazaridis on his installation as chancellor of the University of Waterloo.

Mr. Speaker, Chabad Lubavitch is the world's largest network of Jewish educational and social service institutions.

This vast and modern network of activities and services can be attributed to the vision and leadership of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneersohn, of blessed memory. He has been described as a profound scholar, statesman, administrator and teacher. His love of all humanity and his dedication to helping people are his unique legacy.

July 3 will mark the ninth anniversary of the passing of Lubavitcher Rebbe. Let us mark that day to promote goodness and kindness throughout the country. Let all of us in the House encourage our fellow citizens to live by the values of tolerance, understanding and love for each other.

Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Quebecois is pleased to celebrate the life and work of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, “the Rebbe” as he was affectionately known. Born in Nikolayev, Russia, on April 18, 1902, or 11 Nissan 5662, the Rebbe survived the Nazi regime and fled to the United States in 1941.

He was definitely one the most influential Jewish figures of the 20th century. The Rebbe was no doubt among those who fostered the awakening of the Jewish collective consciousness following the Holocaust. In 1950, he assumed the leadership of the Chabad movement and guided it toward international outreach. He has been described as an accomplished scholar, statesman, administrator and teacher. His deep commitment to humanity and his dedication represent a unique legacy.

The Rebbe died in 1994, at the age of 92, but to this day he is still an inspiration to thousands of disciples and millions of admirers the world over. There are currently 37 Chabad centres in Quebec, which shows that his influence is felt even in our part of the world.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to 11 outstanding high school students in my riding of Niagara Centre who have been selected to receive one of the 404 millennium excellence awards that the Millennium Scholarship Foundation provides to outstanding Ontario students entering post-secondary education.

They have been selected on the basis of academic performance, community service and leadership and innovation.

Mr. Speaker, the Canadian Labour Congress National Women's Conference has once again succeeded in focusing attention on issues of vital importance to Canadian women.

Conference studies show disturbing trends in women's employment that clearly point to the abysmal Liberal record on helping women gain an equal footing in the workforce. The earnings gap between men and women actually grew between 1997 and 2002, with women earning only 63% as much as men on average. Women of colour earned even less.

The percentage of women working full time has dropped from 51.6% in 1995 to 44.5% in 2002, even though a quarter of women working part time would prefer to work full time. Many are pinned down by the Liberal failure to bring in a meaningful national childcare program, as are many unemployed women.

The percentage of women in low paying jobs has also risen to 31.5%, with the majority still in clerical, sales or service jobs.

Canada's unions are fighting hard to improve this disgraceful record. When will the Liberals put women's equality back on their agenda?

Mr. Speaker, I must tell the Prime Minister that there really is growing concern and frustration among cattlemen and their families.

They have been waiting weeks for test results to be completed. Those tests are apparently now completed, but our border with the United States remains closed. It is within the power of the U.S. administration to open the border and we believe it is incumbent upon the Prime Minister of the country to phone the President and try to get action on that.

Will the Prime Minister do that or does he believe he has lost complete credibility with the U.S. government?

Mr. Speaker, at this moment Canadian scientists are discussing the file with their counterparts in the United States. We must prove to them scientifically that everything is safe.

At this moment the best course is to let the scientists resolve the problem among themselves. Of course, if there is a need at one time to speak with the President, I will be happy to do that. I have already discussed this problem with him when I was in Europe last week.

Mr. Speaker, that has been the government's line for weeks, that the science must be dealt with.

We now believe that the science has been dealt with, but yesterday two of the Prime Minister's own cabinet ministers, the Minister of Health and the Minister of Public Works, suggested science was not the issue. They suggested that somehow there were issues beyond science.

Can the Prime Minister tell us what they were talking about? Were they talking about the Prime Minister's bad relations with the United States?

Mr. Speaker, we must be very careful when there is a question of public safety. The member should recall the problem we had with P.E.I. potatoes for a number of years. I spoke with the President time and time again. The Americans were using the health problem to ban potatoes.

At this moment it is very important not to make a mistake. Our people must convince their counterparts in the United States on a scientific basis first.

Of course, if there is a need for me to speak to the President, I will be happy to speak with him and I am sure that he will be happy to speak with me.

Mr. Speaker, there is a need to talk to the President. The Prime Minister had time to give no less than two press scrums on what the President was doing wrong with domestic policy in the United States. He can have a second conversation on this issue with the President.

For two weeks we have been told the science would be done and the borders would be opened. The science is now done and it is the responsibility of the Prime Minister to get answers.

Can the Prime Minister tell us with any degree of specificity what exactly is the new criteria that Canada must meet to get the borders open?

Mr. Speaker, we must assure everybody that there is no disease in Canada. It was only one cow and the system worked well. We have acted very diligently. Scientists, who came from other nations, have looked at the file and complimented the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and the people working on the file from the Government of Alberta for having moved quickly.

That is the way to deal with it, not try to score political points. We must do it in a responsible way.

Mr. Speaker, on the day the Liberal government is forcing through a new law on election financing, the minister responsible for ACOA has already a unique way to get around the rules. He just mailed out a letter asking constituents to send money to help celebrate the 1000th anniversary of Viking settlements in Newfoundland and to send all cash to his home address where he promises never to issue receipts or account for the spending. For that matter, no public events will actually be held but what the heck, those are just details.

Does the Prime Minister really believe that this kind of behaviour is acceptable from his minister or have we simply moved from Eric the Red to Gerry the red-handed?

It is pretty transparent, Mr. Speaker, when he takes the cash at his home address and does not account for how it will be spent. That is transparent.

But not only did the minister's fundraising activities violate the new political financing act, they make a mockery of this new ethics package that the Liberals are ramming through the House today as well. Rules look good on paper, but they really only work for honest people.

The Prime Minister should be asking himself: is this kind of behaviour acceptable from his ministers? Or does he really think that transparency and accountability should be a hallmark of someone in his cabinet?